Gaffer says proper display from his side at home of one of our main rivals for promotion.
Crewe Alexandra boss David Artell could not hide his delight in the character his side showed once again to come from behind and come away with a point from a cagey affair at St. James’ Park. Michael Nottingham’s equaliser just after the hour mark gave Crewe a deserved share of the spoils against one of our main promotion rivals and Artell was pleased with what we saw from his spirited team.
Following the 1-1 draw at Exeter, the Crewe boss told the club’s official website: “A point was a fair result and it was a right proper performance from us tonight. We were proper men and stood up to a good Exeter side. They have good players and they asked us questions but we came up with the answers.
“There wasn’t much in the game. It was a cagey affair, a bit nip and tuck and has been decided by two set-pieces. It was two evenly matched teams, a cagey battle, with two different formations and trying to cancel each other out and there wasn’t a lot in the game.
“We went toe-to-toe, with neither team allowing the other to get on top on wasn’t a great surface but I am not criticising Exeter for that because we have had some atrocious weather over the last three weekends and it wasn’t conducive to playing attractive football.
“We tried to play through the lines too much in the first half on a poor pitch and all the space was in behind, so when we pushed our front three up there and started playing in behind it was like here we go.
“Anyone coming to the game tonight wouldn’t say it was one for the purists but they have seen two committed and organised sides out there and we showed some real character to come back and not get beaten. A draw was a fair result.
“I am proud of our lads tonight, very proud because that was a hard fought point against a good side with good players.
“The fans were absolutely magnificent for us. There were 157 of our fans here tonight and I hope they have a good day at work tomorrow. They will get home late tonight and be up early tomorrow and I hope they are proud of the shift the lads put in to make sure we were not beaten.”